The Orlando Magic opened the season with the third-shortest odds to win the Eastern Conference, and their slow start to the season is certainly an unexpected one. After winning their season opener, the Magic have lost four straight games, but Thursday could present the perfect opportunity for a “get-right game.” The Magic play the Hornets as one of four NBA contests on the Thursday NBA schedule, and Charlotte had the second-worst scoring defense in the NBA last season. The Hornets allowed 144 points to the Heat on Tuesday, and the SportsLine’s Inside the Lines Team expects a strong offensive showing by Orlando on Thursday, making Franz Wagner Over 3.5 assists at -106 odds one of its Thursday NBA player prop best bets. You can find even more best bets at the Inside the Lines live blog.
Targeting NBA player props will be a popular way to approach Thursday’s NBA betting at online sports betting sites. With NBA odds available for almost every player in every game at sportsbooks, the ITL team’s model, which simulates every NBA game 10,000 times, can help you find value to add to your Thursday NBA picks at various sportsbooks. They can also help new users take advantage of sportsbook promos like the latest Underdog Fantasy promo code CBSSPORTS2 to claim $100 in site credits with a $5 entry:
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in betting profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past seven seasons. The model entered Week 2 of the 2025-26 NBA season on a sizzling 161-120 roll on all top-rated NBA picks, returning nearly $4,000. It also went 24-11 (69%) on top-rated NBA against-the-spread picks last season. Anyone following its NBA betting advice at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.
Best NBA player prop picks on Thursday:
- Franz Wagner, Magic, Over 3.5 assists (-106)
- Brandin Podziemski, Warriors Over 7.5 rebounds + assists (+105)
- Jaime Jaquez Jr., Heat, Under 25.5 points + rebounds + assists (-111)
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Franz Wagner, Magic, Over 3.5 assists (-106)
“Magic games have averaged a ton of points this season, especially on the road (256), and Charlotte games are averaging 253 (road and home),” SportsLine data analyst Stephen Oh said. “The lack of defense in this game should be pretty noticeable and translate to easy buckets and certainly above-average assists production. While he’s off to a slow start on assists with an average of 3 (2-3 Over 3.5), he’s a 4.8 assist per game player with a 47-19, 71% Over rate last season. This line is too weighted based on five games this season, and not what it should be, which is a -120 over 4.5 assists.”
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Brandin Podziemski, Warriors Over 7.5 rebounds + assists (+105)
“The Warriors look to get near equal production night-to-night on the boards from its guards and assists from everyone on the team, except for maybe Buddy Hield,” Oh said. Podziemski averaged 10 points + rebounds (2-0 Over) in his games vs. the Bucks last season, and since last season, he has an 8.6 average on the road (29-15 Over). Again, we get plus-money on a line well under his average and our projection of 9.2 rebounds + assists.”
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Jaime Jaquez Jr., Heat, Under 25.5 points + rebounds + assists (-111)
“Both teams have come out of the gates fast and the Spurs are looking to become the best defense in the league,” Oh said. “Their defensive two-point percentage improved from 55% to 46% so far this season with Wemby back healthy. They are dominating the boards and preventing easy put-backs off of offensive rebounds. Jacquez is shooting close to 70% from the field (just 2-for-8 on threes) due to hustle, activity, and unselfish team play. These are things the Spurs are disrupting on defense.”
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Want more Thursday NBA picks?
You’ve seen the model’s NBA picks for some popular NBA player props for Thursday. Now, see NBA projections for every player prop at SportsLine.
Also at SportsLine:
NBA expert Mike Barner is 12-6 (+476) in his first 18 NBA picks this season. See his latest NBA predictions here.
